Welcome

Welcome to the POZ/AIDSmeds Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and
others concerned about HIV/AIDS. Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the
conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning: Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive
and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a
username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own
physician.

All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators
of these forums. Click here for “Am I Infected?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ/AIDSmeds community forums.

We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please
provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are
true and correct to their knowledge.

i am curious as to your opinion.... do you feel that the newer meds cause the face to age in apperance?ive been on meds for a year ,im 41 and when i compare a pic from a year ago to now i feel i aged 10 years. could just be me being a psycho but i was curious to others thoughts on this subject. im on selzentry /truvada.thanks

i am curious as to your opinion.... do you feel that the newer meds cause the face to age in appearance?ive been on meds for a year ,im 41 and when i compare a pic from a year ago to now i feel i aged 10 years. could just be me being a psycho but i was curious to others thoughts on this subject. im on selzentry /truvada.thanks

Everything I have read attributes lipo issues to older nrtis (azt,etc) and some older pi's. I have not read anything that states these issues occur with newer meds such as yours (truvada, selzentry). Does that mean anything? I dunno. I do know the insert that comes with Atripla states it can cause lipo issues and that section is written in all caps. Maybe they are just putting that in the insert to stave off lawsuits.

It seems weird though that you could be experiencing issues after only one year.

Oh I should ask, I'm just assuming you mean lipo issues on your face, what do you mean by "aging?". Do you mean fat loss in your face or wrinkles or what? What exactly are you experiencing?

thanks guys for the replies. i guess i mean more not so much facial wasting ,just look busted up weathered old now.thats what im seeing in the mirror and in picture comparisons from one year ago to today.could be my crazy mind or could be reality .........

i can't afford kinarse. i can barely afford my $20 clinique moisturizer. i get most of my stuff from target. i splurge a little and get moisture from clinique/aveda.

i am looking forward to the days when i can use kinarse. interestingly enough, when i was reading this article an ad from kinarse was on the left side of the screen~

best,d

You can usually find some good deals online. I got a 16oz bottle of kinerase cream from i beleive "skinstoreonline" for $100. (its usually 500 for that size) and its lasted me a year. You dont need as much as clinique so even though its more expensive it last longer.

I have also had IPL at my dermatologist. I swear by that too. If you can swing it, I recommend. Totally smooths out your skin, evens tone, and gets rid of wrinkles.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

On the "new" meds since Summer 2008, just a few months after seroconversion. Have not noticed anything special about my face "aging". Nobody else has either. Im in my late 40s.

So generalized hunch: Heck my face looks my age, but it still looks nice enough. Im not a spring chicken.

The only time I was shocked about aging in my face was in my early thirties when I didn't look like a "young man" anymore. Get OVER it was my self advice. Don't live in the past, a fake youth, or a delusion, is my motto. One time I dated a much older man and he finally could NOT get over aging and his self preception, and had all sorts of unfortunate plastic surgery.

Personally, I highly doubt that the "new" drugs cause 10 years of facial aging in one year.

As others suggest, maybe stress, depression or being run down can effect your appearance. Can also effect your perception of your appearance. The latter is the KEY idea to think about.

I do know that living with AIDS can mark a face. Therefore, being rather an optimist, and thankful for whats good, I just thank my lucky stars for this HAART 'cause my time of living with active HIV was quite limited.

Logged

ďFrom each, according to his ability; to each, according to his needĒ 1875 K Marx

That article is only relevant to NRTI class meds no longer widely prescribed in the US and EU. The exception being us long term survivors that took those medications in the late 80's through the 90's, and/or people in places like Africa that are still using them.

This topic, this fear, is such a perennial thread in these forums. Don't enough docs inform people of the current situation regarding lipo and HAART? Or more that its just a common fear that will never go away, no matter what doctors and research say?

Logged

ďFrom each, according to his ability; to each, according to his needĒ 1875 K Marx

Who cares what you look like. Be thankful you're alive and will be for years to come.

Y'know, I kinda agree with this and anyone who's seen advanced HIV disease knows that it's not an attractive look.

However, there's little doubt that some people with HIV feel less desirable because of the stigma attached to the disease, and so it's not surprising that people also fear medications taking a toll on their looks. At a subconscious level most people are aware of the fact that being alive is more important than what we look, but the world in which we live is staggeringly looks-obsessed, so HIV and possible visible effects of the medication will inevitably be a concern for some.

And directly related to all of this is the minefield of finding a partner, where it seems that the more youthful one appears, the more desirable one is.

Anyway, having said all of this, I've received some very flattering comments recently, so whether I look older or not, I get the impression that I'm certainly looking better!

Logged

''Poor is the man whose pleasures depend on the permission of another.''

You took the words right out of my mouth Ms. P.I love it when people say that I "don't look my age;" "that I look young for my age;" "I can't believe you are 44..." etc. and I know that it is all natural ---- I think that one's attitude towards aging and the aging process has a lot to do with how one "looks" as one ages.

The gray hairs in my goatee are distinguished - or so my friends tell me...The slight wrinkles I have by my eyes show experience and a person who has lived and viewed life -and the wrinkles I have from smiling - speak for themselves....

Now, brazilian butt implants ---- hmmmm, maybe - but that has nothing to do with aging

I love what Dolly wrote in her book about aging gracefully, she plans to fight it every step of the way. I think for many of us who thought we'd be rotting corpses by now, these signs of aging are a badge of honor.

I've kinda reached that point where I focus on the things I can change and disregard what I can't. I mentioned a class reunion earlier and a conversation occurred that could have caused some hurt feelings had I not bit my tongue. I hadn't seen Kim in 25 years and she was the most beautiful creature ever back then. Within 5 minutes of hugging and catching up, she looked at me and said, "gee, you've sure lost a lot of hair, have you thought about doing anything for it?" I was checking out her 60 lb ass and was so close to asking if she had considered consulting Jenny Craig....

Logged

Complacency is the enemy. Challenge yourself daily for maximum return on investment.

"HIV drug regimens containing NRTIs, including Epivir, can cause increased fat levels (cholesterol and triglycerides) in the blood, abnormal body-shape changes (lipodystrophy; including increased fat around the abdomen, breasts, and back of the neck, as well as decreased fat in the face, arms, and legs), and diabetes. These side effects of HIV drug therapy are reviewed in our lessons on Lipodystrophy, Facial Lipoatrophy, and Risks To Your Heart (Hyperlipidemia)."

Thats quite the unconventional treatment you are on. Why are you on this regimin. Did you have resistance issues. Ive heard of adding issentres to a pi/2 nrti regimen but havent heard of yours before. Just curious.

Yes I started out with significant resistance also having a problem maintaining the level of drugs in my system seems that I metabolise the drugs fast.Never missed a dose and take them on time.Last time I had taken the Durance at the correct time and the research showed there was none detected in my blood.The next test will be end of July and will not know until end of August if everything is working ok

James, in my opinion the article mostly is referring to NRTI's like AZT, Zerit (no longer used in the US), Hivid (also no longer used) and probably Videx. Every NRTI has the general disclaimer about fat levels and body shape changes, but some are seen as much more of a possibility than others, hence why some are no longer prescribed and others are. IMO Epivir is less likely to cause this, though of course not impossible. Same with Viread which is in Truvada, and is the most currently prescribed NRTI for that reason.

I took Epivir in the mid-90's. Whether or not it is responsible, or partially so, for my own lipoatrophy and neuropathy issues I can not say, as I also took all the other NRTIs back then. I would put more blame on Zerit and Hivid for these issues, which is why nobody uses them now. At any rate that's really what the article you linked to was talking about.

Aside from people in third world countries, that is. Better a bit of lipo than dead, eh? I hope the cost of other meds come down soon so they don't have to continue to struggle with the older, more toxic meds.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

ok so the consenus is the meds im on are not aging me?no onelse has noticed looking ten years old after starting newer meds?thanks againill do the spa day with miss p i ll drink more waterand i bought the expensive face cream

ok so the consenus is the meds im on are not aging me?no onelse has noticed looking ten years old after starting newer meds?thanks againill do the spa day with miss p i ll drink more waterand i bought the expensive face cream

I had a similar experience to what you're describing but it's impossible to know how much, if any of it, is to be blamed on the meds. And there is also, as Miss P attests, natural aging involved as well.

I'm 48 and up until about 6 years ago (when I was 42) I looked about 10 years younger. I suspect that it was around age 42 that I got HIV and, since that time, I've noticed that I'm aging at a slightly faster rate than before. I started meds in July 2008 (Isentress/Truvada) but even before then I was noticing changes in my face and body happening at a faster rate than before. Nothing super major or dramatic, it's not like I looked like Skeletor overnight, but the aging starting to happen faster than before.

Overall I still look good and I say that not to sound conceited but because its true and in order not to scare anyone from meds.

It's very difficult, no, impossible, to be able to really dtermine if aging is accelerated and then to parse how much of it is due to HIV itself, how much is due to the normal aging process, how much is due to the meds, etc.

The bottom line is that it's not anything like what people experienced on the early meds, especially, as Miss P, mentions, AZT, Videx and Zerit.

Are later generation NRTIs such as Truvada (or any of the later meds for that matter) causing undue mitochondrial toxicity? There should be a study to determine this.

I've had very good overall experience with the meds I'm taking but I wouldn't mind ditching the Truvada the first chance I get (i.e. as soon as an effective nuke-sparing combo is proven to work, such as Isentress/Reyataz).

Also, in my own non-scientific observation, I believe that exercise, in addition to eating healthfully, helps stave off the effects of Time.